Miracles Association

[Marauder]

This question was asked to me the other day and I wasn’t sure how to answer it. I tried asking it the AAA forum but it was never answered.

How can they tell a miracle is associated with a particular Saint? I am not douting the miracle happened or anything but how can they tell it was through the intercession of a particular Saint.

From experience, when a person tends to be sick or have something major happen to them people tend to pray to numerous Saints to make them better, not just one.

Maybe praying to Jesus directly, Mary, St. Anthony, and maybe Pope John Paul II. How do they know it was the prayer to JP II that made them better and not the prayer to others?

 

[LilyM]

Well, if you’re praying only to a particular saint, or praying with a relic of theirs or at a specific place associated only with them and the miracle happens then it’d have to be associated with that saint wouldn’t it? For example if your miracle happens at Lourdes.

This only really matters if, for example, the person is not yet canonised (such as JP2 or Mother Teresa) and you want to be sure it’s from them in order for them to be canonised. In that case I would imagine the only miracles accepted by the Church would be ones that could be demonstrated to be from that particular person for some reason.

If you pray as I often do to half-a-dozen different saints and something happens … then just thank all of them, because it’s probably a joint effort

 

[Marauder]

LilyM:

Well, if you’re praying only to a particular saint, or praying with a relic of theirs or at a specific place associated only with them and the miracle happens then it’d have to be associated with that saint wouldn’t it? For example if you go to Lourdes and are cured of an illness.

But see that was where the person had problems understanding and I couldn’t really explain. If you are at Lourdes and are cured, was it through Mary’s intercession or the intercession of the Saints associated with Lourdes.

Its easy to see if the person was all of a sudden healed while holding a relic of the Saint but I am pretty sure that a number of miracles associated with particular Saints happened without a relic. The odds of the nun that was cured being attributed to JP II having a first class relic are slim, yet they are attributing it to him. I don’t know if that nun was only praying to JP II but most people with issues like her’s pray to as many people as they can.

If you pray as I often do to half-a-dozen different saints and something happens … then just thank all of them, because it’s probably a joint effort

Yes I do the same thing, just trying to figure out a way to explain things to someone that is trying to come to terms with praying to Saints, miracles, and other things related to the church.

 

[LilyM]

But see that was where the person had problems understanding and I couldn’t really explain. If you are at Lourdes and are cured, was it through Mary’s intercession or the intercession of the Saints associated with Lourdes.

Its easy to see if the person was all of a sudden healed while holding a relic of the Saint and were all of a sudden healed but I am pretty sure that a number of miracles associated with particular Saints happened without a relic. The odds of the nun that was cured being attributed to JP II having a first class relic are slim, yet they are attributing it to him. I don’t know if that nun was only praying to JP II but most people with issues like her’s pray to as many people as they can.

Well there’s only one saint associated with Lourdes really, that’s Bernadette, which narrows the options. As for things like JP2 - well I suppose you could ask for a specific sign. There’s a special prayer to St Therese the Little Flower that asks for her to send the person praying a rose, and lots of people report receiving either actual flowers or other representations (pictures or such), which would seem to indicate that the prayer has been heard.

 

[Marauder]

Thanks I forgot about signs like the rose, I will try that with him, but I personally doubt that will go over well since he will claim that people were just looking more for signs of roses and found one.

The reason this came up was because we were discussing the nun’s miracle and he was like, How did she know it was JP II?

He does believe in miracles, but is having a tough time attributing them to the intercession of anyone but Jesus directly.